


Honesty

by dancingontheedge



Category: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-24 21:10:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14962229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancingontheedge/pseuds/dancingontheedge
Summary: To Qi'ra, Han represents a time when she thought she could be honest.





	Honesty

Once upon a time, Qi'ra could have been honest. Had she and Han been able to live their naive dream -- their own ship, answering to no one -- she could have been honest in the only way she ever knew: in the manner of criminals. Petty lies to achieve short-term goals, but honest with her emotions. Like Han is. Like even Beckett is.  They're the sort of honest that will give you a warning before they stab you in the back, even if you don't believe them.

Beckett and Han sit across from herself and Dryden, an honest gamble spilling from their mouths.  Dryden's fingers trail lazily up and down her arm as he subtly mocks them for it.  Qi'ra doesn't move, but she sees Han's eyes still momentarily where he can see Dryden touching her.  He says something outrageous; and isn't that always the way?  But Qi'ra wants it, the honesty, and so she backs his play.  "Just like the old days," Han's smug face says.  Her face remains still as she thinks "Not even a little," and "I'd just like to pretend for a while."

Qi'ra plays the long game, with her eye always on the prize. First, it was to get off Corellia, by whatever means necessary. Without Han at her side, she did not care who she hurt, and she trod on a lot of beings to catch the attention of the Crimson Dawn recruiter. Once she was in, her new goal became to obtain as much power as she could, however she could. Nobody had ever taught her how to play dejarik, but if they had she would have been an expert.  Her sabaac face is a thing of beauty, for all she does not find the game particularly enjoyable.

No, Qi'ra is far too canny to be honest. If she wants to manipulate her way into prestige, into lessons in hand to hand, into power, she knows it will be easiest to use her femininity to do so. Conveniently, that same femininity will provide a shield for her naked ambition. If she keeps her hair curled just so and bats her eyes at the right time, the boys club that is syndicate leadership won't look past her delicate bone structure to the durasteel that lines her spine. And so she cannot be honest. What use would cringing from the hands of twice her age Dryden be, in this quest for power? No use at all, that's what.  So Qi'ra holds still. 

She thinks Han might see it, that she is not overfond of Dryden and is merely playing a part.  It suits her purposes fine if he does, as long as Dryden cannot see. She knows that Dryden can see Han's affection for her, the tilt of his head more mocking than usual as he touches her with his usual amount of possession.  He does not see how her body language is subtly different in front of her ex-lover.  A little more prodding and she may have confirmation of a suspected blind spot.  How useful.

Straightforward Han, of course, thinks that she is just as hung up on him as he is on her.  She had been shocked to see him on the yacht, and even more shocked when he told her that he was still planning to go back to Corellia for her.  So shocked that she had started to feel her facade crack.  Nobody goes back to the slums of Corellia on purpose.  Nothing could drag her back there, she would kill the being that tried.  She has killed for less, and almost definitely will again.

Han has a strategic mind, but not a terribly ambitious one, and not a particularly manipulative one.  He will always prefer a straight fight to any kind of subterfuge.  Dryden is almost laughably wrong when he calls Han hungry.  Almost, because what Han aspires to is Qi'ra, not any sort of notoriety or place in the organization. Qi'ra can tell that Dryden is projecting onto Han, that he sees himself in Han's eagerness to please. She also knows that her mask of pleasant malleability has never earned similar scrutiny. Dryden sees ambition that isn't there on the face of a naive young man, and misses it completely behind her empty smile.  She knows that this oversight is what will allow her to take what she wants.  She watches Dryden's body language as he threatens her, as she leaves the room.  His weakness for her has been confirmed beyond all doubt.  All she needs to do is exploit it.

She has an affection for Han, feels nostalgia for the days when she thought she could be honest.  She hopes that she will not have to exploit  _his_ weakness for her as she continues her climb to the top.


End file.
